American Library Association

Maine West High School librarian Geralyn Eisler Haan will ask students to help her decide how to spend $3,000 in prize money the library received recently. Though generous, the gesture is also a matter of Haan's being consistent, since her habit of asking students for input is part of the reason the library received the prize in the first place. The library at Maine West in Des Plaines has been named a National School Library Media program of the year by the American School Library...

Nineteen-year-old Germeisha McGee used the computers at the Robbins library to search for summer jobs because the community college student has no Internet access at home, like many in this south suburb of about 5,000 people. “There's a little silence, a little peace,” she said. “It's a place to get some work done.” Residents will lose this haven Tuesday, when the William Leonard Public Library is expected to close until further notice due to lack of funds. The...

For centuries, the defining role of the library has been as a repository of books. Now, in the 21st century, the library faces perhaps its most momentous challenge: Americans are moving away increasingly from the printed page to digital screens for information and communication. Library leaders nationwide are adapting to this shift by reimagining the library as an engaged community center. The role of librarians is being re-branded to reflect their expertise as content...

Caution: The following tribute to the late, great author-poet Maya Angelou may be hazardous to some of my touchier readers. The previous paragraph is called a "trigger warning," a disclaimer of the sort that often has been applied to online discussions about rape, sexual abuse and mental illness. In recent months they have spread to a place where power struggles can be most intense: college campuses. Student leaders at the University of California at Santa Barbara passed a...

Suburban mom Megan Fox uses libraries regularly to home-school her children, but what she said she saw on a recent visit to a local library left her aghast: three men on three different library computers viewing pornography. And, according to library policy, there's nothing wrong with that. Fox wrote a letter to Orland Park library officials and followed up at a library board meeting last month, confronting officials about their policy and posting a video...

How would you like to download the latest hit single by Justin Timberlake to play on your iPhone for free, or a read a best-seller by David Baldacci on your Kindle for free, or browse the latest digital issue of The Economist or Marie Claire on your tablet computer for free, or access the LexisNexis database for free? Oh yeah, and do all that without ever leaving your family-room sofa at 10 p.m. on a Sunday in your pajamas? Those are just some of the new-fangled things you can probably do...

Naperville Public Library Director Donna Dziedzic will travel to Washington on Wednesday to participate in a White House briefing with the American Library Association on the state of libraries and their services. The forum will address such issues as accessing government information, intellectual property and education policy. Dziedzic, who is president of the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies, a division of the American Library Association,...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Public Library announced it is abandoning a controversial renovation plan that would have replaced floors of research material at the city's flagship Manhattan building with a circulating library. The original $300 million plan would have moved circulating collections from the system's Mid-Manhattan Library and Science, Industry and Business Library into the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, the iconic Beaux-Arts library building at Fifth...

The Dundee Township Public Library, through the American Library Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities, is showcasing 15 classic books and reading materials provided by the NEH's "We the People Bookshelf." The library also will offer writing programs on the showcase's theme, courage, and on how to deal with bullying. For information, call 847-428-3661.

"Water is wet. " There's as much news in that statement as there is in a recent Pew Internet survey that revealed that people value their public libraries. How much do we love our libraries? When asked what impact closing the public library would have on their community, 90 percent said it would have at least a "minor" impact. Sixty-three percent believed it would have a "major impact. " This piece first ran in Printers Row Journal, delivered to Printers Row members with the...

Martin Gomez, of Oakland, Calif., has been named northwest district chief for the Chicago Public Library. He will supervise all branch libraries in his district. Gomez, a member of the American Library Association, is a former project director of the Serra Cooperative Library System in San Diego.

Computer access at library revisited Monday's Orland Park Public Library board meeting found residents revisiting the issue of adults having unimpeded access to the Internet on library computers. But the 29 minutes of public comments generated more heat than light, with one board member laughing at a speaker and another appearing to cover her ears during part of a resident's comment. Dr. John Rimkunas, an Oak Lawn veterinarian who lives in Orland Park, likened the issue of...

The censorship of books is the focus of special events, exhibits and read-outs across the country being held this week. Dubbed Banned Books Week, the observation began Saturday and continues through this coming Saturday. The read-outs, sponsored by the American Library Association, will feature local celebrities and community members reading from their favorite banned book, with a focus on American classics such as "Catcher in the Rye" and "To Kill a Mockingbird." The...

For centuries, the defining role of the library has been as a repository of books. Now, in the 21st century, the library faces perhaps its most momentous challenge: Americans are moving away increasingly from the printed page to digital screens for information and communication. Library leaders nationwide are adapting to this shift by reimagining the library as an engaged community center. The role of librarians is being re-branded to reflect their expertise as content...

Naperville Public Libraries Director Donna Dziedzic was so thrilled that the city's library system was ranked first in its class for the fifth consecutive year, she had a No. 1 cut into her hair. Naperville, which recently celebrated the opening of the city's third library, was tabbed in the 100,000 to 249,000 population category by the American Library Association.

Suburban mom Megan Fox uses libraries regularly to home-school her children, but what she said she saw on a recent visit to a local library left her aghast: three men on three different library computers viewing pornography. And, according to library policy, there's nothing wrong with that. Fox wrote a letter to Orland Park library officials and followed up at a library board meeting last month, confronting officials about their policy and posting a video...

A 2006 survey by the American Library Association found that 61 percent of U.S. residents said "libraries are important in helping to start small businesses." To be of even more help, the ALA has compiled its list of most useful Web sites for entrepreneurs. To see it, go to www.ala.org and search for "best small business Web sites."

A recent presentation at the Glencoe Public Library looked at "Books on the Chopping Block," featuring members of the Chicago-based City Lit Theatre performing excerpts from the American Library Association's "Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2012. " Perceived offenses that made them targets include offensive language, sexual explicitness, racial and gay themes, and the catchall, "unsuited for age group. " The recent readings sought to convey what each work was...

Mary Ann Schellhorn, nee Leibold, July 24, age 58, late of Crete, beloved mother of Kristian Schellhorn of Tucson, AZ and Sarah Schellhorn of Chicago. Library Director for Columbia College in Chicago. Member of the American Library Association. Resting at the Tews Funeral Home, 18230 S. Dixie Hwy., Homewood, Friday, from 3 to 9 p.m. Services and interment private. Memorials to the University of Iowa School of Library Information Science, Iowa City, IA 52240 would be appreciated. 708-798-5300

When library trustees in north suburban Morton Grove learned that a 16-year-old employee would oversee the showing of an R-rated film at the institution, some of them requested that an adult take over the job. The incident represents another page in the ongoing debate over the accessibility of adult-themed materials to young library patrons. "It would be highly offensive to a great number of residents of Morton Grove that the library is using their tax money to employ a...